The reason I've been carrying out every single request from Raffles without fail every day is to earn their recognition.
Why?
'It's because of the incident that's going to happen in a week.'
Before this incident, Raffles was just a skilled contract cri organization. But after this incident, they beco one of the most feared criminal organizations in the world, the kind that makes people tremble just by hearing their na.
'They might leave out if they think my abilities are lacking. That's why I've been working so hard to earn their trust.'
What Raffles is about to do is no ordinary task. They might exclude if I haven't earned enough trust.
The reason I've been striving to prove my abilities is also due to the lack of trust.
'Full assembly. Son Jeong-hu will definitely bring it up tonight. It seems like so of them already know.'
I smirked.
The mont I get the Illusiter, I'm saying goodbye to this world.
***
"Everyone's here. It's a relief to see that nothing major has happened to any of you."
Son Jeong-hu said as he looked around the eting room. The mbers of Raffles were seated in their own unique ways—so on chairs, so on tables, so leaning against the wall, and so sitting on the floor.
I sat normally on a chair, focusing on Son Jeong-hu.
"Leader, what's the reason for the sudden gathering? Another new recruit?"
Yoo Geun-tae asked. Son Jeong-hu shook his head.
"No. I think it's about ti we start taking things more seriously."
"...More seriously? Haven't we been serious all this ti?"
It was Jackie. I heard he joined Raffles a year before .
"Ah, that's not what I ant. We've always been serious about our work. But this ti, all of us are going to be involved. This might be the first ti all of us are working together. That's what I an by 'more seriously.'"
"...All of us. All ten of us. Are we planning to raid a military base?"
At Train's serious question, Son Jeong-hu laughed.
"We wouldn't need all ten of us just to raid a military base, Train. Five of you would be enough to take down most military bases."
"Ugh, stop beating around the bush and just tell us! What are we planning to do?!"
Hyunji jumped up from her seat and spoke. True to her hot-blooded nature, she didn't hold back. Every ti I see her, I wonder why she watches Korean dramas. Most Korean dramas are full of absurd plots, and even the non-absurd ones don't seem to match Hyunji's personality.
"Alright. To get straight to the point... we're going to raid Seoul City Hall."
"...."
Silence fell over the room. Even Hyunji's mouth hung open at the absurdity of the statent.
'The Seoul City Hall in this world is incomparable to the one in reality.'
In Code: XTK, Seoul City Hall is the largest building in Seoul and the center of the city. When there's a major national event, the mbers of the National Assembly head to Seoul City Hall instead of the National Assembly Building. The power of the Seoul Mayor, who can be considered the owner of Seoul City Hall, surpasses that of the President in so ways.
In other words, raiding Seoul City Hall is akin to attacking the heart of South Korea.
'And yet, absurdly enough, they succeed.'
This is the reason Raffles becos a world-class criminal organization.
And my goal is the Illusioner located in Seoul City Hall.
"...Leader. What's the plan?"
Woola, who had been quietly leaning against the wall, spoke up.
Son Jeong-hu smiled brightly, as if he had been waiting for that question, and manipulated his smartwatch to bring up a screen for everyone to see.
"Of course, there's a plan. Here, look. This man, who looks like he's good at cursing, is Seoul Mayor Won Cheon-su. He's from Gangwon Province and is 60 years old this year. And in a week, it's his birthday. That's also the day we'll raid Seoul City Hall."
Mayor Won Cheon-su is the genius developer who discovered and comrcialized Eklus. It was thanks to his imnse contributions that he beca the Seoul Mayor.
"...What's the goal? It's not sothing trivial, is it?"
Train asked.
"What cos to mind when you think of a birthday? Cake? Well, that's obvious. But what makes a birthday even more exciting is the birthday gifts. Mayor Won Cheon-su is a super socialite. Of course, he'll receive a lot of gifts, right?"
"Leader, you have a tendency to ramble sotis. This is important. Get to the point."
"...Ah, right. The goal is the latest airship blueprints that Crack Corp is giving to Mayor Won Cheon-su as a birthday gift."
I know. Son Jeong-hu's real goal is the 'Eklus Mini Fusion Reactor' hidden within those blueprints. Son Jeong-hu plans to use the Eklus Mini Fusion Reactor to enhance his chanical body.
"...I don't understand why they're giving that to the mayor as a birthday gift."
"The gift is just an excuse. It's like saying, 'We'll build this airship for you, so please give us so favors.'"
"Is it really that valuable?"
"It's the latest airship blueprints from Crack Corp. If we sell it to a competitor, we could get at least 200 billion won. And it's not like we have to just steal the blueprints. Let's loot everything there. Even if we just take the important stuff, we'll probably make a few trillion won."
Trillion.
The mbers fell silent for a mont at the ntion of a unit beyond billions. The first to break the silence was Hyunji.
"...This sounds fun! With that kind of money, we could retire right away!"
"Of course, we'll split the money fairly. You can retire after this if you want."
I chuckled to myself.
Retire if you want? That's nonsense. Son Jeong-hu will consider anyone who retires a traitor and have them secretly killed. That's how Train dies.
"...What's the detailed plan?"
Woola asked.
"Of course, I've prepared one. I got the information about the latest airship three months ago. I've been preparing diligently since then."
The screen changed, showing the blueprints of Seoul City Hall.
"These are the complete blueprints of Seoul City Hall. Seoul City Hall has never been rebuilt or expanded, so it's 100% accurate to these blueprints."
I looked at the blueprints.
Seoul City Hall was a tower-style building. Including the underground floors, it had a total of 222 floors. 22 floors were underground, and the remaining 200 were above ground.
And I also know about a secret location not shown in the blueprints.
'How did Son Jeong-hu get these blueprints?'
In the original story, the source of Son Jeong-hu's intelligence is never revealed. But it's speculated that he has spies planted in high-ranking positions in the Korean governnt. This speculation cos from internet posts.
'But it seems he doesn't know about the underground facility yet. Well, that's revealed in the latter part of the original story.'
Just obtaining these blueprints was impressive enough.
"And this is the security situation a week from now. There will be a total of 5,052 elite soldiers guarding Seoul City Hall, along with 5 special governnt agents. Of course, the defense systems are also well-prepared. If we charge in from the outside, we'll be killed by missiles, and if we cause trouble inside, the elite soldiers will try to kill us."
"...This is no joke."
Yoo Geun-tae groaned.
Looking at the blueprints, there were no visible gaps. The only entrances to Seoul City Hall were the main entrance and four underground passages.
"The key here is to disable Seoul City Hall's main system. If the main system is shut down, the defense systems attached to it will also be disabled."
Son Jeong-hu looked at . The aning behind his gaze was simple. He wanted to disable the main system.
"Which floor is the main system on?"
I asked Son Jeong-hu. He smiled and answered.
"It's on the 190th floor. Since your hacking range is 50 ters... you'll barely reach it from the 175th floor."
I nodded. Looking at the blueprints, that seed to be the case.
"Seoul City Hall has a main system and a backup system. Taker, it would be great if you could disable both, but... that's probably too much. Seoul City Hall's main system is considered the best in Korea."
"Right. I'll only be able to hack it for a few seconds. I won't have the capacity to hack the backup system."
"If the main system is completely down, they'll have to manually switch to the backup system. The technicians at Seoul City Hall are top-notch, so it'll probably take them an hour and a half? That's about how long it'll take to switch to the backup system. At most, two hours. We'll have to finish our job and escape before the system is restored."
"So we have to finish everything within an hour. But how are we going to infiltrate?"
"Taker, who do you think I am? I'm the leader of Raffles! Of course, I've prepared a way to infiltrate. And I'll need your help for this."
***
"Hello. I'm Park Shinhan, a superintendent from the 3rd Special Police Force under Seoul City Hall. May I see your invitation?"
A man wearing a black helt and a special combat suit spoke to politely. Without a hint of panic, I handed him the invitation I was holding. It was an elegant card with gold foil. The officer checked the card with a machine and handed it back to .
"You must be President Yoo Jaewon of Grayfall Corp. Welco."
"You've been working hard."
"Not at all. By the way, are the people behind you all part of your group?"
I turned around.
All ten mbers of Raffles, including , were dressed in neat suits, except for Woola.
"Yes. They're my company employees and my personal bodyguards. Can they co in with ?"
"That's not a problem. However, only one person can accompany you to the party venue on the 150th floor. The others will have to wait in the waiting room. And according to regulations, we'll need to conduct a search."
"If it's the regulations, then there's nothing we can do. Will it take long?"
"Three minutes will be enough. Ah, by the way, you can't bring any weapons. Please leave them with us."
I couldn't avoid the search either. But I was able to pass through in less than 30 seconds.
"You're a normal human."
"My father is a bit conservative."
I smiled slyly as I spoke. The reason I was playing the role of the president of Grayfall Corp was because I was a normal human.
In this world, normal humans are considered outsiders. But that doesn't apply much to the upper class in South Korea. That's because Confucian culture still remains in Korea, unlike other countries. In other words, it's a remnant of Confucianism.
Why do you think the saying "Our bodies, hair, and skin are received from our parents" is often ntioned in reality?
The higher-ups in this world have a strong authoritarian streak.
'When I first heard that saying, I wondered why they were looking for their parents.'
I crossed my arms and waited. We already knew about this search and had prepared thoroughly. The identity check wasn't a problem either. The identities we were using were already verified fakes.
"Yes, everything's in order. And here, these are the card keys for the waiting room where you'll be staying."
I took the card key and read the text on it.
"A1312?"
"It's a room on the 131st floor. You can wait there. The party starts at 10 PM sharp on the 150th floor. Only one person can accompany you to the party. Please keep that in mind."
"Got it. By the way, I haven't eaten dinner yet... I'm a bit hungry. Is there a restaurant?"
"There's a restaurant on the 120th floor. If you show your invitation, you can dine for free."
"Thank you."
With that, I entered the first floor with the rest of the group.
'...It's ridiculously huge.'
The first to the 30th floors are where the city hall's administrative work is handled.
'They've stopped work for three days because of the mayor's birthday party, right?'
For three days, Seoul City Hall's operations have been paralyzed. If sothing like this happened in reality, the citizens would rise up imdiately. But in this world, no citizen dares to cross the Seoul Mayor.
'The internet is quiet too. That's proof they're controlling it.'
There are rumors circulating online about a friend who went missing after offending the Seoul Mayor.
'It's called South Korea, but it's practically a dictatorship.'
We took the elevator to the 131st floor and entered the room. The facilities were on par with a luxury hotel.
The mbers of Raffles began moving around the room, inspecting it for any hidden surveillance caras or bugs.
"There are no wiretapping devices or caras."
Jackie said after ten minutes. His eyes could see X-rays, so it was trustworthy.
"Taker, you're good at acting. Did you study it professionally?"
Son Jeong-hu, sitting on the plush bed, chuckled as he spoke. The setup was that I was the president of Grayfall Corp, and he was the chief of staff.
"No, not at all. I just acted shalessly."
"Acting shalessly is harder than it looks."
Son Jeong-hu lay down completely on the bed.
"Wow, this bed is super soft."
"...."
I smirked at his words.
It was hard to trust soone whose entire body, except for his brain, was chanical.
Outwardly, he looked human, but in the end, he was a machine. Even if they replicated the artificial nervous system, the difference compared to human sensations would be significant. He probably couldn't even feel subtle touches.
'He probably doesn't have anything down there either.'
Even if he had an artificial genital, it would be no different from being a eunuch. There's no way a machine could replicate the delicate and intricate pleasures of sexual satisfaction.
***
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